As atavistic as it may be in the age of the internet, I still believe
in the value of the library, even though KRS-One once coined it "the place
where lies are buried." While it is true that historical lies are often
written by the victors and thus skewed, sometimes the victor who prevails
and writes history is not the mighty. In the case of Mahatma Gandhi, history remembers a meek
man, what some might have even generously called a frail and fragile man. Yet
this man of small stature stands large in victory, because his words inspired
a nation of people to usurp their British tyrants and enjoy freedom and liberty.
Small wonder then that the duo of Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and Vinnie Paz
(a/k/a/ Ikon the Verbal Hologram), collectively known as Jedi Mind Tricks,
would have "Visions of Gandhi." It matches well with their name, which
invokes the well-known Star Wars phenomenon of mental acuity so sharp it
gives a Jedi Master physical power over the weak willed. For this group,
to envision Gandhi is to invoke his mental acuity. Their oppressors are
commercial radio and pop music. They seek to liberate the minds of listeners
while exercising mental control over beats (with Stoupe's stellar
production) and rhymes (Vinnie Paz' lyricism).

To learn more about Gandhi though, please visit your local library and check
out a good biography. "Visions of Gandhi" may draw inspiration from his
intelligence and strong will, but this is in no way an album about Gandhi.
It's worthwhile to note that Gandhi was a man who strongly believed in
non-violent protest (an example which inspired Martin Luther King Jr.) while
"Visions of Gandhi" is filled with often dark and violent imagery. In fact,
"Rise of the Machines" featuring Ras Kass opens with a sample of Mike Tyson
speaking, a man who may go down in history as the most savagely brutal
pugilist to ever don boxing gloves. Contadictory? Yes. Then again, I
consider myself a believer in Gandhi's philosphy of non-violence, while
one of my favorite video games is Grand Theft Auto 3 and one of my favorite
movies is Scarface. Perhaps it's necessary to draw a distinction between
violence as entertainment and violence as a way of life, something which
feeble minded politicians and talk show conservatives like Bill O'Reilly
and Rush Limbaugh seem unable to do. Some psychologists and progressive
thinkers have even argued that violence in entertainment is a healthy
release of humanity's more primal urges - a vicarious experience which
quells societally unacceptable rage in a decidedly non-lethal way. I
can't debate the point psychologically with any authority since that's not
my degree, but personally I've always found that when I'm in a bad mood
listening to M.O.P. or Megadeth at high volume vents my frustration nicely.

"Visions of Gandhi" qualifies as just such an album. Stoupe has always
had an uncanny knack for layering beats, samples, and rhymes into seething
cauldrons of attitude. His songs tap directly into your cerebral cortex
and unleash head-nodding, foot-tapping hip-hop exuberance. Vivid in their
darkness and beautiful as the night sky, Vinnie Paz' lyrics are the stars
which punctuate the blackness with bright light. His deliver is a loud
roar, a cat that even DMX couldn't bark at. His imagery is harsh and
relentless, using intelligence to both illuminate the dark and intimidate
cowardly MC's who fear his shine. The lead single "Animal Rap" may be
the penultimate expression of all these qualities in one bold statement.
Even without the legendary Kool G. Rap lending guest vocals, this song
would still blaze mixtapes coast to coast. Stoupe's rapid-fire beat
and equally staccato selection of symphonic strings is the perfect
backdrop for Paz to spit out his venom:

"Yo, bust a motherfuckin gat to this
Y'all believe lies like y'all was Catholics
I rap in Arabic, so my message is just immaculate
My rap elaborate, drink a forty and blaze a sack to it
My aim is accurate, take your brain and blow out the back of it
I'm surly, miserable cat that slap shorties
Looks kinda resemble that, of Fat Paulie
I don't even clap, young boy, he claps for me
Chain hang down to my dick, I'm that gaudy
I don't even fuck wit you cats, you rap poorly
I don't even buck at you cats, you that corny
What a whack army, we barkin at you
And Vinnie Paz hold the hammer like a carpenter do
You should understand that I ain't really fuckin around
And if you don't, you gonna find your body stuffed in the ground
We buckin' em down, cuz that's how wrong my life is
Y'all don't understand how fuckin strong my wife is
I'm from a time where every song was righteous
Before rap was just a swarm of white kids"

The Verbal Hologram is far from a man of peace. Neither are the guests
on the album. The first full length song on the album, "Tibetan Black
Magicians," features a rap pugilist as infamous as Mike Tyson, the "2nd
Round Knock Out" king Canibus himself. For those who heard the stellar
"Rip the Jacker" LP that Stoupe
produced, 'Bis appearance here will come as no surprise, nor will how
the rapper drops more "Hip Hop Quotables" than Ludacris:

"I grab mics, bust the raw, take flight, adjust the yaw
I break your bicuspids with your own jaw
Metaphors started menopause in your moms before you were born
Technically you don't even exist, God
A flick of the wrist, you'll be gone
Lost in limbo like pink shit camouflaged in a pig farm
I'm an enigma I rip bars, or burn your star with 5 points
plus the mic I ripped thus far
I stomp on ya forehead; peel the top of your fuckin face off
like an orange then eat the carnage
My God that sounds horrid
Eatin MC's is like eatin garbage, they make me vomit
Discombobulate prostates re-hydrate dry lakes
Wipe Ammonium Nitrates across the side of ya face
Anthropomorphalogically speakin, I'm out of ya league"

While most rappers would resign their right to rhyme following such
a verse, Vinnie Paz steps up with equal authority:

"Every rapper better fear me, cause Vinnie Paz is a beast
And y'all steady screamin for war but want peace
You tryin to walk through the fog where sun leaks
You tryin to walk two dogs with one leash
You can't overstand the mathematics
How I rip bars, walk through walls, perform magic
Tibetan Black Magic, I'm a warlord
I'll stab you through your fuckin temple with a floorboard
I'm a born lord, I was baptised
To see the universal through a cat's eyes
Here come the black skies; it's all darkness
I breathe life into Jesus Christ's carcass!"

Stoupe's apt samples in the chorus perfect the package, with quips
like "have you ever heard the sounds of bones splitting" and "I make
MC's memories.. when I end you with the murderous medley." It's hard
to even begin to describe the level of perfection this triumverate
achieves, but you can't help but notice that every guest on "Visions
of Gandhi" delivers an all-star performance when inspired by Stoupe's
beats. From various members of Non-Phixion, to Percee P, to Tragedy
Khadafi, they all shine like newly minted liberty dollars. If you
accept as a given the rhymes are a glororious expression of both
violence and ego on par with the aforementioned Scarface flick, the
only place you'd be left to criticize the album is the beats - and
here you'd fail as well. Stoupe has a seemingly endless bag of
tricks. "Blood in Blood Out" opens with folksy guitar and fades
gradually into an onomatopoeia instrument that bops along while Paz
growls "You too commercial, you still a disgrace/you like to sit
around with women watchin Will & Grace" and then ups the ante
with "I'm the definition of toxic/anyone who ever got close to me
got sick." Yowza! Then Stoupe does it again with a syrupy somber
selection for "The Rage of Angels," and then Paz does it again over
Stoupe's latin-influenced "Nada Cambia" where he compares himself
to dictators like Mussolini and Khomeini. At some point it's just
plain redundant to say they do it again, because at no point on
the album do they NOT do it. Each song is it's own slice
of perfection, whether it's whimsically ominous like "A Storm of
Swords" or just plain creepy like "The Wolf," they all stir your
soul and release your emotions as well as any therapist ever could.

"Visions of Gandhi" comes so close to hip-hop perfection, it
could be a rare "perfect 10" for RapReviews.com. Could be, but isn't.
Although I can enjoy the dark savagery of Vinnie Paz rhymes, it may
be so far over-the-top to be a turn off for some. There's certainly
no shortage of profanity to go with the brutality either, as it's
"fuckin Vinnie Paz" on almost every rap he speaks. Stoupe's beats are
clearly aimed at matching his lethal rhymes and flow, and if you
aren't looking for hip-hop with that much edge then it just isn't meant
for you. Like Mobb Deep's "The Infamous" though, the beauty of
"Visions of Gandhi" is the unmitigated excellence with which is
portrays images most people would rather turn their heads away from
and not see. Like a crucifix in a cup of urine, it may be art,
but it may also be disgusting. While it has non of the peace of
Mahatma Gandhi, it may ultimately bring about more peace by
venting the darkness in a true head's hip-hop loving heart. If
you're fed up with things that are happy, flossy, shiny or glossy
there's no better album than "Visions of Gandhi" to unleash your
inner beast. It's intelligent hip-hop you can slam dance to,
or as Prodigy once said "heavy metal for the black people," except
you can substitute "rap" for "black."